This is when an employee resigns because you have breached their employment contract. This could be a single serious event or a series of less serious events.

An employee could claim constructive dismissal if you:

cut their wages without agreement

unlawfully demote them

allow them to be harassed, bullied or discriminated against

unfairly increase their workload

change the location of their workplace at short notice

make them work in dangerous conditions

A constructive dismissal isn’t necessarily unfair - but it would be difficult for you to show that a breach of contract was fair.

A constructive dismissal might lead to a claim for wrongful dismissal.

Wrongful dismissal

This is where you break the terms of an employee’s contract in the dismissal process, eg dismissing someone without giving them proper notice.

Wrongful dismissal isn’t the same as unfair dismissal.

If an employee thinks you’ve dismissed them unfairly, constructively or wrongfully, they might take you to an employment tribunal.Unfair dismissals Even if you think you’ve dismissed someone fairly, they could still claim unfair dismissal against you if they think that:

the reason you gave for the dismissal wasn’t the real one

the reason was unfair

you acted unreasonably, eg by failing to give them plenty of warning about their dismissal

Automatically unfair reasons for dismissal Even if you’ve acted reasonably, some reasons for dismissal are classed automatically unfair. These are to do with the following areas:

pregnancy, including all reasons relating to maternity

family, including parental leave, paternity leave (birth and adoption), adoption leave or time off for dependants

acting as an employee representative

acting as a trade union representative

acting as an occupational pension scheme trustee

joining or not joining a trade union

being a part-time or fixed-term employee

discrimination, including protection against discrimination on the grounds of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation (in Northern Ireland, this also includes political beliefs)

pay and working hours, including the Working Time Regulations, annual leave and the National Minimum Wage

whistleblowing

Compulsory retirement on the grounds of age is unlawful unfair dismissal unless you can objectively justify it - but you could be challenged at a tribunal.﻿Industrial action

It’s automatically unfair to dismiss someone for taking part in official (‘lawful’) industrial action:

in the 12-week period from the day the industrial action starts

if the action lasts longer than 12 weeks and you haven’t taken reasonable steps to resolve the dispute

Only an employment or industrial tribunal can decide whether or not you’ve taken reasonable steps to resolve a dispute. If you ‘lock out’ employees taking industrial action, the days of the lock-out are not included in the calculation of the 12-week protected period. A lock-out is where you prevent employees from getting to their workplace, eg by locking the doors.Political beliefs and groups It is not automatically unfair to dismiss someone because of their political beliefs or political groups they belong to, but a tribunal might find this unfair. There’s no longer a qualifying period for someone going to an employment tribunal if they’ve been dismissed because of political opinions or affiliation. This applies to anyone dismissed from 25 June 2013.Penalties for unfair dismissals If a tribunal finds that an employee has been unfairly dismissed, you might be ordered to:

reinstate them (give them their job back)

re-engage them (re-employ them in a different job)

You might also have to pay compensation, which depends on the employee’s:

age

gross weekly pay

length of service

You might have to pay extra compensation if you don’t follow a tribunal’s order to reinstate someone. There’s a limit on the amount a tribunal can award for unfair dismissal, apart from in cases relating to:

health and safety (e.g. where you unfairly dismiss someone for taking action on health and safety grounds)

whistleblowing

Eligibility to claim unfair dismissal

Employees can only claim unfair dismissal if they’ve worked for a qualifying period - unless they’re claiming for an automatically unfairreason.

Qualifying periods:

Date employment started: Before 6 April 2012When the employee can claim: After first year of employment Date employment started: After 6 April 2012When the employee can claim: After 2 years of employment

Who can’t claim unfair dismissal?

The right to complain to a tribunal about unfair dismissal is not available to:

self-employed people

independent contractors

members of the armed forces

employees who have reached a settlement with their employer through Acas (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) or the Labour Relations Agency (LRA) in Northern Ireland

employees employed under an illegal contract, eg a barman under the age of 18

employees covered by a dismissal procedure agreement that’s been legally exempted from the unfair dismissal rules

employees taking part in unofficial industrial action (unless the dismissal is for an automatically unfair reason)

police staff (unless the dismissal relates to health and safety or whistleblowing.)

those working on a fishing vessel and paid by a share in the profits or gross earnings of the vessel

employees who have reached a settlement with their employer through a ‘compromise agreement’ after taking legal advice.